I crawled off the couch and buzzed them in, and I tried to make myself look somewhat presentable. My hair was all over the place, but I didn’t have any chance to fix it. So threw on a hoodie and dumped the empty takeout containers in the trash, just as a knock came on the door.
“Jesus Christ!” Brenda exclaimed when I opened the door. You look like shit!”
“Babe, what did I tell you in the car?” David chuckled behind her.
“It’s nice to see you too, B,” I said, shocked to see that she and David were carrying several bags of groceries, with two boxes of pizza.
We saw yo
your little debacle at the supermarket earlier this morning,” David said as I hugged him. “So we thought
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Chapter Eleve
we would bring you some supplies.”
“You shouldn’t have,” I said, a wave of gratitude and sadness washing over me. “Thank you so much. I don’t even know what to say.”
“I told David you could move in with us,” Brenda said as she walked into the kitchen and laid some of the bags on the table. “But he thinks Marcus will use that to his advantage. I just don’t like the idea of you staying in a place like this.”
“It’s all I can afford right now, B,” I replied, shutting the door behind me. David walked into the kitchen and began to sort the groceries in the fridge while Brenda sorted the rest into the cupboards. When I tried to help, Brenda shoved me into a chair and ordered me to have some pizza.
“You should have called me when you found out,” Brenda said. “This wouldn’t have gone to court at all. I would have kicked him in the crotch until he regained his senses hat sleazy bastard thinks he can defame my girl and get away with it? He better pray I never run into him in the Streets. I’m going Carol Danvers on him and whooping his ass.”
We all laughed, and a little bit of my anguish lifted. This was exactly what I needed, and I was grateful for their company. With no one else to turn to, Brenda and David were the closest thing I had to a real family right now.
“Where’s the bathroom?” Brenda asked, waving a bag of toiletries. “Let’s get these stashed away first before we settle down.
“Down the hall to your left,” I replied, and she winked as she hurried off, leaving me and David as he arranged the boxes of cereal in the cupboard overhead. His back was turned to me, and he seemed tense, like there was something he wanted to say but he didn’t know how to say it.
“Thanks for doing this, David,” I said. “I really don’t know how to thank you for doing something like this.”
0
“Don’t mention it, Olivia,” he said, glancing at me over his shoulder. “When Brenda showed me that video of you getting attacked at the entrance of the supermarket earlier today, I knew we had to come over here and help in whatever way we can.
“Please don’t tell me it’s gone viral,” I groaned.
“Fine, I won’t tell you,” he said, and I felt like chucking myself out the window and landing on the pavement. below as a wave of shame came over me.
“Oh God!” I groaned, burying my face in my palms.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” he said. “It happens. We just need to make sure you stay out of the spotlight for a while. The judge should announce a day for you to appear in court any day now, so just keep your head down and don’t draw attention to yourself.”
“Yeah, unlike Marcus fucking Reynard,” Brenda said as she returned to the kitchen. “I saw that he attended a fundraiser yesterday at the St. Michael Children’s Hospital. He was very careful about making sure that the cameras caught him looking sad and miserable. And then he pulled out a check of five hundred thousand dollars, which earned him a round of applause and handshakes all around. It made me want to throw up. The asshole knows exactly how to twist the situation to make him look like a saint.”
“Well, not all of us can write off checks like it’s nothing,” said. “To be honest, I don’t even care am
anymore. I’ve already accepted that he’s going to come out of this looking way better than me. I can’t change that. All I can do is keep my head down, and once the divorce is finalised, I’m moving out of the city. Somewhere on the west coast, where I can surf all day and maybe work at a small media firm ”
“Don’t tell me you’re running
away,” Brenda said. “Are you really going to let him win like that?”
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Chapter Eleven
“What more can I do, B?” I asked, choking back a sob. “Maus has taken everything from me. I don’t even know who I am anymore. I haven’t been myself ever since I married him, and now I don’t know how to get back to that version.”
The tears started to fall without me knowing, and she walked towards me and wrapped her arms around me. I cried into her arms, while David stood awkwardly by the sirik and stared down at his feet.
“He hasn’t taken everything from you, Liv,” Brenda said. “He might think he has succeeded now, but you’re going to show him that he was wrong to underestimate him. You’re going to completely destroy him, and he’s going to pay for what he did to you.”
“I just… I don’t even know what to do anymore,” I said between sobs. “I don’t know how to pick up the pieces and just keep moving.”
“Sometimes, that’s all we can do, Olivia,” David said. “You need to just keep moving, and don’t ever let your haters see you crack. If you can just keep moving forward, then you’ll surely find a way out of this.”
I was grateful for their presence, and as Brenda squeezed me tight, I started to feel like I could do this. I could pull through, and I would make Marcus regret the day he decided to betray me.
Which reminded me…
“I recognise that look,” Brenda said, “You have an idea, don’t you?”
“Perhaps,” I said, smiling through the tears. “I know it’s a dirty move, but it might level the playing field a little bit.”
“I’m listening,” she said. “What have you got?”
I looked up at David, and asked, “How easy is it to access a security camera even when you don’t have physical access to it?”
“Fairly easy, if you know the right people,” he said. “What do you have in mind?”
‘Revenge,” I replied.
And for the first time in weeks, I could smile once again.
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